Thoughts on the military and military activities of a diverse nature. Free-ranging and eclectic.

Monday, April 03, 2006

Zacarias.

This is coolbert:

The headlines scream from the CNN network:

"Jury: Moussaoui is eligible for death

Al Qaeda operative testified he knew in advance of attacks"

"Zacarias Moussaoui is the only person to stand trial in the U.S. in connection with the 9/11 attacks."

"ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (CNN) -- Al Qaeda conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui is eligible for the death penalty, a federal jury decided Monday in the first U.S. trial about the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks."

"The nine men and three women reached their verdict on the fourth day of deliberations."

"Surrounded by U.S. Marshals, Moussaoui refused to stand and showed no reaction as the verdict was read. After jurors left the courtroom he shouted, 'You'll never get my blood. God curse you all.'"

"The jury's verdict means the trial will continue with additional witnesses and evidence. The jurors now must decide whether Moussaoui will be executed for his role in the 9/11 deaths."

"Moussaoui, 37, a Frenchman of Moroccan descent, admitted last year that he conspired with al Qaeda, the terrorist group responsible for September 11, to hijack and crash planes into prominent U.S. buildings."

[this guy is as much a Frenchman as I am. He may have been born in France, but he is not French!!]

"But on the witness stand, Moussaoui claimed he knew the World Trade Center was a target and that he would have piloted a fifth jetliner into the White House."

"Prosecutors needed to prove Moussaoui lied intentionally and with lethal intent. His surprising testimony, as the last defense witness, became the centerpiece of the trial."

"'I didn't say the truth,' Moussaoui testified. 'Because I am al Qaeda. Because I am at war with this country.'"

"Prosecutor Robert Spencer asked him, 'The reason you lied was to allow the people that you knew were in the United States to go forward with the hijackings, right?'"

"Moussaoui replied, 'You can say that.'"

"Moussaoui testified that the Prophet Mohammed, the patriarch of Islam, taught, "War is deceit." Lying is permissible during jihad, or holy war, Moussaoui added. 'You are allowed any technique to deceive your enemy.'"

[Muslims refer to this "technique" as taqiyya or kitman.]

["These are examples of a practice known as taqiyya, which essentially means to lie for the sake of Islam. The intention is to deceive unbelievers about Islam, for the explicit purpose of assuaging doubts and concerns about Islam, and encouraging conversion."]

["Taqiyya goes beyond mere lying for propaganda purposes. The word comes from a root meaning "to guard against, to keep (oneself)". It thus also includes dissimulation by the Muslim to give the appearance of not being religious, so as not to arouse suspicion. In this vein, a Muslim, if necessary, may eat pork, drink alcohol, and even verbally deny the Islamic faith, as long as he does not "mean it in his heart". If the end result of the lie is perceived by the Muslim to be good for Islam or useful to bringing someone to "submission" to Allah, then the lie can be sanctioned through taqiyya."]

This whole trial is just one indication as to why YOU DO NOT want to allow the terrorists from Gitmo or anywhere else in the world to have access to American courts. If this case is an example of how terrorists in American courts will behave, we are in big trouble.

To begin with, the man tried to plead guilty about a year ago, and did so repeatedly. The judge refused to allow the man to plead guilty! This amazes me! By what right does a judge disallow a person to plead guilty?! This confounds me to no end.

Then, when the trial resumed recently, the man again, pled guilty, just as he did a year previously. NOTHING had changed his mind. The man was and is guilty, and just was being truthful.

After the guilty plea was accepted, they then have to go through a two step penalty phase.

First to determine if the man is eligible for the death penalty, which is being sought in this case.

And secondly, the jury must then determine whether or not to give death.

The terrorist again surprises everyone by making admissions that he is guilty as hell. The prosecutors have their work done for them by the "Frenchman". He willingly and without prompting, admits his guilt.

Based on these open admissions, the jury HAS determined that the terrorist IS eligible for death. NOW the jury must decide whether to give death or not!

Well, this is and has been a prolonged affair. And just for one man. What if you had to put hundreds or thousands of captured terrorists through the same trial process? What if they did NOT plead guilty? What if they stubbornly and with determined resistance attempted to make a mockery and a sham of the trial process. OH, they would love that with relish!!

Terrorists should be given a fair trial, in a military court, not in a normal criminal court.

Military courts [tribunals] in the American military are NOT some sort of kangaroo court without any guarantees of rights. NOT the same as a civilian criminal trial, but not far from being. Fears of abridgment of rights is much overblown.

Every effort and then some was made to give this abomination of a human being a fair and open trial in the extreme. EVEN THOUGH THE MAN PLED GUILTY OVER AND OVER AND ADMITTED HIS WRONGDOING!!

This guy has no beef!! He got what he deserves. But do not make his trial a model for other terrorists.